Vladimir Zinchenko, owner of Greenline Yachts and co-founder of GX Superyachts

Once an electronics engineer, Vladimir Zinchenko bought and revived the then-ailing Greenline Yachts shipyard in Slovenia in 2009. Since then, he has led the landlocked facility to build over 1,000 hulls across its evolving range of motoryacht models, known for their eco-aware fibreglass range with hybrid propulsion systems and solar-panel options.

At last year’s Monaco Yacht Show, Greenline announced a new, simultaneous mission: GX Superyachts – larger-format, higher-end, all-aluminium yachts, born with a similar ecologically-minded ethos. Starting with the GX42, GX Superyachts is planning three sizes of yacht, each offered in RHP (Raised Pilot House), Fly or Coupe versions, all featuring exterior design by Marco Casali.

This May, Zinchenko was in Hong Kong to attend the Asia-Pacific Superyacht Summit, of which GX Superyachts was a Platinum Sponsor and where he spoke in the panel discussion ‘Reducing the Energy Consumption of Yachts’. Yacht Style spoke to Zinchenko to hear more about the new brand and its first hull, the GX 42m RHP, which is due to launch in the summer of 2026.

Considering the success of Greenline Yachts, what prompted the launch of the GX Superyachts, a production collaboration with Türkiye’s SES Yachts?

We’ve established a lot of manufacturing technology in Slovenia and gained knowledge in-house on building from moulds and how to use hybrid propulsion. So, we began to ask, ‘how can we take this further?’ We also have a lot of customers who have shown an interest in growing together with us.

GX42 RPH exterior design by Marco Casali

With the idea of building superyachts and in aluminium, we needed to be practical. Our shipyard is 160km from the seaside. To get there, we need to go through five tunnels and cross a lot of bridges. Our bigger Greenline boats are delivered in two pieces, the flybridge and hull separately, which are then glued together at a marina facility.

Slovenia’s coastline is only 46km long and mostly cliffs, so for larger-scale yachts, we couldn’t face the transport challenges. We looked for somewhere to be easily accessible to use for deliveries around the world, with a strong background in building in metal. The shipyard we’re using for GX Superyachts is in Tuzla, Istanbul, and offers both these things.

What is the mission for GX Superyachts and how do you imagine the owner profile?

We would like to build a smart platform, which concentrates on not only how far and how fast you can go somewhere but also on the way of life on the boat. And of course, we set out our Responsible Yachting path with Greenline, so we will carry this into GX models.

Greenline yachts are built for spending quality time with your family, and this starts from the first few minutes when you step on board. The kids are running around, parents are sunbathing, the wife is reading a book, the husband is making coffee. Because they move slowly, everything is visible, with 360 degrees of glazing around in the flybridge. It’s for enjoying time on a family cruise, not for fast day-cruising from A to B, to go to restaurants and back. You know? That’s not Greenline style.

The GX42 RPH will feature hybrid propulsion

GX Superyachts boats have larger dimensions and more dynamic performance. You know, we are talking about the €30 million figure – so it’s an owner of a business, who already has a family, a lot of relatives, and they plan to invite them on board. It means there should be water toys, a Jacuzzi – really, a great entertainment boat.

In the respect of on-board power for GX models, the expectation must be that you need a lot for superyacht hotel use and propulsion.

From the start, we were finding out the number of batteries, generators and solar panels we need to cover the needs for powering not only the propulsion system but also the air-conditioning, heating, ventilation and the general house needs. Our first model is a 42m boat and we calculate that we need 1.5 megawatts of energy a day.

We started to look at what we can do to minimise consumption, and we found out that we can save up to 70 per cent when we modify our air-conditioning technology. Our smart air-conditioning is complex. Importantly, we’re not cooling empty rooms and we’re using highly-efficient glass with tall overhanging brows, which stops a lot of direct heat in the saloon, and we use thermal insulation.

Marco Casali has also designed the interior of hull one

We also realise the crew must be trained. They get constant reports and analysis, and there will even be online artificial intelligence that will help them quickly react in real time. This is very important. We can build the smartest boats ever but if a crew ignores recommendations, our customer will waste money for nothing.

How is the backup for the hybrid propulsion on GX Superyachts?

Hybrid propulsion itself is a secondary system – the primary is still classic diesel, connecting with a straight shaft, so you’re always going to have propulsion. As yachts usually have twin engines – offering safety if one has a problem – we also have twin electric motors. So, in fact, it means we are protected four times, not just double.

Potential customers who we talk to about Greenline and GX aren’t always asking how far and how fast the boats can go but more often how big a carbon footprint the boats will leave, how much fuel they will burn, how silent they can go. We are working on all these areas.

How long was the planning stage before you announced the three-yacht range in Monaco last September?

We really started in January 2022, at the Boot Düsseldorf show, when we presented our vision for the future. We said Greenline Yachts was sure to continue because our customer base was growing. We added that we would like to continue not only up to 20m but that we planned to go up to 24m, and that we could consider a line above 24m. We immediately got interested feedback from dealers on this, so we started to think about a 26m yacht.

Drop-down aft bulwarks create a huge beach club

Some dealers and customers started asking about boats larger than 26m, and it grew to 30m, then to 36m and 40m LOA, and, finally, we came to 42m, which is the size of the first hull we’re building now.

It was a long journey from January 2022 to June 1, 2024, when we had a keel-laying ceremony in Istanbul. We decided to make an announcement on the GX42 RPH only after we knew it would be sold and in production. We’re not a shipyard that makes [concept] sketches available before we know something is at the manufacturing stage.

How many hulls could GX Superyachts build in a year?

Yes, our plan is about one per year, across those three LOA sizes. First of all, we do not have our own production facilities for GX – we outsource. Secondly, we just started, and we never had experience with aluminium hulls. Plus, our team never touched the class regulations for this size and type of yacht.

Zinchenko spends much of his time at the SES shipyard in Tuzla

Is it a challenge to divide your time between Greenline Yachts and GX Superyachts?

I’m enjoying spending a lot of time at the Turkish shipyard – I’m an engineer. We looked at about 20 shipyards in Italy and Istanbul and we chose a reliable, small, boutique family shipyard. With 50 years in the business, under one family, our project is their number 57. After three years of asking, they gave us our first slot. It’s important to be there a lot and when I am, I notice the returning customers who have used the shipyard for three, four or five yachts.

gx-superyachts.com

greenlinehybrid.com